Quarterbacks are definitely related to their initial draft
position for success, but normally in the sense that the
good ones most often come from the highly drafted players
but there have been so many duds in the past years that
you cannot, and should not, rely on their draft placement
as any primary characteristic. Draft position is related
strongly to receivers, somewhat to runningbacks but only
mildly to quarterbacks.

Stud

Dud

Now Cold

Rising

Rnd

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

1

J. Druckenmiller

Peyton Manning

Ryan Leaf

Tim Couch

D. McNabb

Akili Smith

D. Culpepper

Cade McNown

C. Pennington

Michael Vick

David Carr

Joey Harrington

Patrick Ramsey

2

Jake Plummer

Charlie Batch

Shaun King

G. Carmazzi

Chris Redman

Drew Brees

Quincy Carter

M. Tuiasosopo

3

Jonathan Quinn

Brian Griese

Brock Huard

Josh Mccown

4

Danny Wuerffel

Pat Barnes

Joe Germaine

Aaron Brooks

Chris Weinke

Sage Rosenfels

Jesse Palmer

David Garrard

Rohan Davey

5

Kevin Daft

Tee Martin

Mike McMahon

A.J. Feeley

Randy Fasani

Kurt Kittner

Brandon Doman

Craig Nall

6

Mike Cherry

Chuck Clements

John Dutton

Matt Hasselbeck

Marc Bulger

Spergon Wynn

Tom Brady

Todd Husak

JaJuan Seider

Josh Booty

Josh Heupel

"J.T." O'Sullivan

Steve Bellisari

7

Tony Graziani

Koy Detmer

Wally Richardson

Tony Corbin

Moses Moreno

Michael Bishop

Chris Greisen

Scott Covington

Tim Rattay

Jarious Jackson

Joe Hamilton

Seth Burford

Jeff Kelly

Ronald Curry

Wes Pate

1999 was considered the strongest quarterback draft in
two decades and it has provided McNabb, Culpepper and Brooks
to the top ten in fantasy rankings. Tim Couch is now battling
with Kelly Holcomb for the Browns steering wheel. As a
point of reference, Couch was the #1 QB in the big 1999
QB rich draft. Holcomb was never drafted. Imagine if Cleveland
would have taken McNabb instead. Then again, they could
have gotten Akili Smith too.

Quarterbacks come from all different sources lately and
last year the Superbowl had both quarterbacks be previous
castoffs from other teams. Gannon was a 4th round pick
by the Patriots in 1987 and Brad Johnson

2003 Rookie QBs

1.01

CIN

Carson Palmer

1.07

JAX

Byron Leftwich

1.19

BAL

Kyle Boller

1.22

CHI

Rex Grossman

3.24

HOU

Dave Ragone

3.33

TB

Chris Simms

4.13

SEA

Seneca Wallace

5.28

PIT

Brian St. Pierre

6.19

HOU

Drew Henson

6.27

NYJ

Brooks Bollinger

6.28

NE

Kliff Kingsbury

7.18

WAS

Gibran Hamdan

7.27

SF

Ken Dorsey

was a 9th round flyer by the Vikings in 1992. Just goes
to show you never can tell, even though the position may
be the most important one on the entire team.

The draft position matters little to a quarterback in
the long run since they must develop and short of Peyton
Manning, that takes a bit of time. This season has no
rookie quarterbacks that will be immediately thrown into
the fire
though it is a very safe bet that Palmer, Leftwich and
Boller will get their shot if only eventually.

If you can take anything from this interesting but less
significant look at the drafts and quarterbacks, it is
that all first round quarterbacks get a chance to play.
Opportunity is everything in the NFL, but playing quarterback
is not something that natural ability alone can ensure
success. For dynasty leagues, taking a first round quarterback
ensures two things - your guy will get a chance and that
chance may only prove you wasted a roster spot for two
years or more.

Hang your hat on developing receivers and stick with established
quarterbacks.